What the Spurs and Clippers said

The good people in the Spurs’ media services office again provided us with a sampling of what players and coaches from both teams said in the locker rooms after Wednesday’s game.

Spurs coach Gregg Popovich:

(How important was it for DeJuan Blair to accept the challenge of Blake Griffin?)

“You didn’t expect him to not show or anything. He’s a competitor. Everybody’s a competitor in the league. Blake is obviously a fantastic player and it kind of juices you up when you’re the guy that’s got to go against him. In that regard, DeJuan was ready and he did a good job against a great player.”

(On Manu Ginobili and Tim Duncan coming out of the game late in the third and Tony Parker taking over…was that a put the game away thing for Parker?)

“It was important. Tony played a really heady game. He took what was available. Scored when it was needed. Moved the ball and ran the show when it was needed. That’s something we expect from him and something that when he does that, we’re a really good basketball team. His leadership in that regard is very important.”

(Is this the ideal situation for a first game of a back-to-back…the chance to rest?)

“You wouldn’t trade it, that’s for sure. If you can get a little bit of rest, that’s great. Manu had a great game and Timmy played well. We had a lot of guys play well tonight, so it was a good night for us. To get some rest is surely welcome.”

(On the team’s shooting tonight compared to Opening Night)

“Well, the shots went in tonight. That’s what happens. Some nights they don’t drop and that’s why we try to depend on defense to us through those nights. Again, tonight, the best part of our game was our defense; just like Game 1. You can’t worry about the shooting, it’s gonna be there or not there. It’s the same for everybody. But the defense is something that can be demanded constantly.”

(On James Anderson)

“James is playing with a lot of confidence and a lot of aggressiveness. He’s got a lot of that pent up after sitting out basically for the whole year with injuries last year. He’s jumped on this opportunity and done a real fine job.”

(What does he like so far this season?)

“The defense has been very good. I’m most pleased with that. Hopefully we can continue it and get better.”

Spurs forward DeJuan Blair

(On playing against Blake Griffin)

“Playing against Blake (Griffin) is fun. I always have fun. He challenges me and I challenge him. It was a real big game.”

(On playing on both ends of the floor against Blake Griffin)

“He made some tough shots and I made some tough shots. We were both running out there. He’s a heck of a player and he stepped up, but our team stepped up. The team played big tonight. We got to bring it tomorrow against the Rockets”

(On playing with Manu Ginobili)

“He can find me. He’s amazing at passing and I love playing with him”

(On being ready for the season and having fun)

“That’s what I worked hard for during the lockout, so I can run up and down the court. I try to be more agile for the team. I just try to work hard, so Timmy can get easier looks and make it easier for the team to grind it out. I try to spark the team as much as possible. I’m looking good, but I got to stay consistent at it and try my hardest to do that and have fun doing it, like I did back in my days at Pitt.”

Spurs guard Manu Ginobili

(On passing to DeJuan Blair)

“I was just trying to play and see what happens. DB (DeJuan Blair) is always looking for the ball, ducking in and running the fast break. I like playing with him, and seeing that, I look for him but not particularly because I don’t always look for him.”

(On looking for the 3-point shot)

“The first one, I was wide open and it went in. I tried the second one and I got fouled. Then they (shots) started going in. I was sort of surprised because I haven’t been shooting well in practice. They’re going in now. It’s not the percentage I was expecting.”

(On the Spurs’ second half)

“Our defense in the second half was great. They couldn’t get lobs. They scored under 40 in the second half. We were pretty good on defense. We moved the ball and everybody scored.”

Clippers coach Vinny Del Negro:

(What does his team need to change on the defensive end)

“We just have to work through things. Everyone says it’s going to be easy, but it’s not. Give San Antonio credit, they were cutting hard and they were moving the basketball. We were very stagnant, we weren’t physical, and we weren’t contesting shots. We got our offense going in the second quarter to get us back, but we have to hang our head on the defensive end. We were just not sharp tonight. They (the Spurs) execute and we try to do different things. We played terrible from start to finish. We had a little glimpse in the second quarter; I thought we did some good things. They jumped on us in the third and we were just chasing them the rest of the game.”

(when asked what was working for the Clippers)

“We got a few stops and we got a few shots, a couple of easy baskets. They (the Spurs) shot it really well tonight. They hit some tough shots when they had to. But you expect that. They have been together for a while. This is a start of a process for us and we have to find a way to get better every day. I keep on talking about that. It’s not going to be easy. We let things slip away tonight. I didn’t think our focus was there at times. It’s one loss, we have to work on it tomorrow and get ready for another tough game against Chicago coming up.”

(when asked what is the biggest thing that will change in the Chicago game)

“Just our mindset over all, defensively. We have got to find a way to dig down deep and stay in our coverage’s. We were a step slow at everything we did tonight for whatever reason. Our mindset has to be more on the defensive end and we’re not there right.”

Clippers forward Blake Griffin

(On the Spurs dominating statistics)

“They tore us apart that third quarter. Our defense needs to be better and it can get better. The good thing about the mistakes out there is that they are easily correctable. We need to get in the film room and see what we did wrong. Then we need to get out on the court and correct it.”

(On the Clippers’ 3rd quarter struggles)

“I think we let some of our offensive misses and errors affect us on defense. They had some long rebounds and did a good job of getting out in transition, but we need to do a better job of getting back and stopping the ball. Some shots we contested and we were right there. But they hit a lot of tough shots and you have to give them credit. We have to do a better job of making sure we get back and load up.”

Clippers guard Chris Paul

(Is Blake Griffin like Tyson Chandler)

“Yes, he can but he is nowhere near Tyson. He shoots jump shots, he can handle the ball, and he is a special player. We are really good, all of us as individuals, but now we need to figure out how to make it work as a team.”

(On the Clippers’ 3rd quarter struggles)

“Defensively. We were down four and I look up to see we are down 68-58 at one point. We are going to practice tomorrow and figure out what we did right and figure out what we did wrong. First things first, we need to start with me. We need to realize that the key to this entire season is going to be on the defensive end.”

(On the Spurs’ defense making it difficult in third quarter)

“No I don’t think so. We were taking the ball out of the net every time down. They were just scoring at will. We talked about it since day one, the only way we can get to where we would like to be is defensively.”